utmost | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

24 entries found.

Old English utmest (Anglian) "outermost," double superlative of ut "out" (see out (adv.)) + -most. Meaning "being of the greatest or highest degree" is from early 14c.

uttermost (adj.)

late 14c., from utter (adj.) + -most. More recent than utmost. Compare utmost. Middle English also had uttermore (late 14c.), now, alas, no longer with us.

ne plus ultra

"utmost limit to which one can go," Latin, literally "no more beyond;" the motto traditionally inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules.

out-and-out

c. 1300 as an adverbial phrase, "completely, thoroughly, to the utmost degree," from out (adv.). Adjective usage is attested by 1813.

optimize (v.)

1844, "to act as an optimist, take the most hopeful view of a matter," a back-formation from optimist. Meaning "to make the most of, develop to the utmost" is attested by 1857. Related: Optimized; optimizing.

dead-lift (n.)

1550s, "a pull exerting the utmost effort (of a horse), from dead (adj.) + lift (n.). From 1560s in figurative sense of "a position in which one can do no more;" by 1882 as "an effort involving the whole strength."

extreme (n.)

1540s, "utmost point of a thing," from extreme (adj.); originally of the end of life (compare Latin in extremis in reference to the "last stages of life"). Phrase in the extreme "in an extreme degree" attested from c. 1600. Hence extremes "extremities, opposite ends of anything" (1550s); also "extreme measures" (1709).

Dan (2)

name of one of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel or its territory, named for its founder; literally "he who judges," related to Hebrew din "to judge." In the Old Testament, it occupied the northernmost part of Israel, hence its use proverbially for "utmost extremity," as in from Dan to Beersheba (the southernmost region), 1738. Related: Danite.

tip (n.1)

c. 1400, "extreme end of something, top of something round or pointed, metal attachment to the end of something," from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch tip "utmost point, extremity, tip" (compare German zipfel, a diminutive formation); or from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse typpi).

consummate (adj.)

c. 1500, "complete, perfect, carried to the utmost extent or degree," from Latin consummatus "perfected, complete," past participle of consummare "sum up, complete," from assimilated form of com "together, with" (see con-) + summa "sum, total," from summus "highest" (see sum (n.)). Of persons, "accomplished, very qualified," from 1640s. Related: Consummately.

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